Justice for the Forest-Beasts

Chapter Twenty-Four - In Which there is a Cave

The twins made their way to the castle's main entrance. The people that were protesting there noticed them immediately, and they called out to them, demanding change and praising the twins. Estelle couldn't help but to smile, hearing their cheers.

"Everyone, I need your help!" Estelle shouted, trying to get the crowd to shush. They slowly began to simmer down, though a few people continued to yell and cheer. "Rain, our bird-beast friend, has been sent into the forest south of the castle, in order to be executed by starvation. Xe is trapped in a cave, where xe will starve to death if we don't do anything about it. So, I ask that some of you help us. We will be meeting outside the southernmost part of the castle's enceinte, where we will begin the search in exactly half an hour."

The crowd reacted with all sorts of shouts, but Estelle could hardly decipher what anyone was saying. With her brief speech over, she and Lucian began making their way towards the street, weaving between rowdy protestors.

Before the twins headed towards the southern enceinte, they had to rally the most important civilians—Petra, Colette, Lorelei, and Aravis. The Inorlans were the only ones who needed any convincing, as Aravis and all of his friends were openly against the monarchy.

Followed by the Inorlans, Aravis, and Aravis's many friends, the twins made their way to the enceinte. By the time they arrived, a bit more than half of an hour had passed. At that point, there were twenty or so people gathered together, not including the twins and all of the people they'd left to gather.

"Alright, everyone!" Estelle called out. She began explaining the plan to them all. They would split up into two rows, putting two to three yards between each person. They would travel south until they reached the edge of the forest, if they needed to go that far. They would then move towards the east, and go north again. They would keep traveling, back and forth, until they found Rain. Their method would allow them to cover a fairly large area of land at once, and it would also assure that every spot was double-checked. However, it would be a long and tedious process for everyone there.

Once they were all in position, they began the search. The group moved at a painstakingly slow pace, in order to make sure that no spot was left unseen. They each had all the time in the world to search and examine every nook and cranny. Truthfully, the process was grueling. No one was even sure what they were looking for. They had to notify everyone of everything even remotely suspicious, otherwise Rain would never be found. Countless times, someone would call everyone over, only for there to be nothing more than an empty cave or a nook on the side of the hill.

The sun had set and Estelle's legs were falling asleep by the time that someone called people over for something that actually seemed to matter. In the side of a small hill, there was a fairly large boulder, surrounded by rather loose dirt. That dirt was completely void of grass, although it wasn't void of torn roots. Where the dirt was not packed tight enough against the boulder, warm light escaped. It seemed as if the boulder had been placed there, and Estelle felt herself hoping that Rain was behind the boulder.

"Everyone, get over here," Estelle called out to everyone else, "The boulder's too big to move, so I think we should dig around it. The dirt seems loose enough."

Everyone gathered around, but it wasn't like any of them had brought a shovel or any sort of tool. Estelle got right down on the ground and began tearing away at the soil with her bare hands. Hesitantly, a few others joined in, including Lucian and Aravis. As the hole got bigger, more people had the room to help. The dirt was cold and wet, clinging to Estelle's skin and sticking under her fingernails.

Eventually, the group dug into some sort of opening under the ground. They found more light, and Estelle knew there was something in there. She and the group quickened their pace, with newfound motivation. Soon enough, the group's tunnel was large enough for Estelle to squeeze through. She covered her mouth and nose with her tunic as she climbed into the tunnel. She then crawled through, using her elbows and her knees. She paid no attention to the dirt that covered her skin, her clothes, and her hair.

The cave on the other side of the tunnel was small—not even large enough for Estelle to stand up all the way. Instead, she crouched as she uncovered her mouth and nose. Rain was lying on the cave's floor, curled up into a ball and in a deep sleep. Xe was almost as dirty as Estelle, and xe covered xemself with xyr wings in an attempt to keep warm. Beside xem was the source of light that had caught the group's attention—a meager campfire, made of kindling and a couple matches. Estelle smiled, knowing all of it had come from Rain's satchel, although xe was no longer wearing it. It must have been confiscated at some point, Estelle figured.

Lucian peeked his head through the tunnel behind Estelle, just to watch curiously. Estelle paid no mind as she shook Rain's arm gently, in an attempt to wake xem up. Slowly, xyr eyes opened. When xe saw Estelle, a wide, toothy grin appeared on xyr face.

"Estelle," xe said, sounding almost amazed at the sight of her, "You came for me."

"Of course I did," Estelle said, "Come on, we have to get you out of here."

They exited the cave one after another, but not before Rain put out xyr campfire and Estelle freed Rain from the restraints on xyr wings and wrists. As soon as xe'd exited the tunnel, Rain surprised Estelle with a sudden hug. It caught her off-guard, and she stumbled as her balance was thrown off.

"Thank you," Rain said. Xe then turned to the rest of the search party, as tears welled up in xyr eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

The search party waited for Rain to finish with xyr many thank yous. They then began making their way back to the city. Instead of walking to the castle, though, they gathered at the amphitheater. They all spread out, some people on the stage and others in the seats.

"I can't even believe the King actually bothered to take you away. How ridiculous. Are you okay?" Estelle said to Rain. Xe and the twins were sitting on the edge of the stage, with their legs dangling freely.

"Not really," Rain said honestly, "It was... so scary."

"I can only imagine. I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Estelle offered a sympathetic smile as she held her arms out to Rain, "Do you want another hug?"

Rain smiled softly and accepted the hug without any hesitation, eagerly wrapping xyr arms around Estelle. Xe pressed xyr face into her shoulder, sniffling and trying not to cry.

When the two let go of each other, Estelle stood up on the stage. Her legs were shaky from all the walking she had done to find Rain, and she was more exhausted than she'd ever been before. "We need to come up with a plan," she called out loudly, asking for input from the others around her.

"We should storm the castle," one person suggested.

"I can hex the King."

"We should have the King assassinated."

The suggestions went on, each one more extreme than the next.

"Perhaps we shouldn't do any of that," Estelle said, "Let's relocate to the castle. We are not storming it, though. I only wish to regroup with the other protestors."

The group loyally followed Rain and the twins to the castle's northern bailey, where they planned to spend the rest of the night. As they walked, the twins stayed close to Rain. Estelle asked xem, "If our plan succeeds and I become Queen, would you be willing to rule alongside me?"

Rain was flattered by the question, but xe hesitated for quite a while, trying to think it over.

"If you want to think about it, that's okay. I can wait," Estelle said.

"No, I want to rule with you," Rain decided.